Evaluating offending behaviour programmes: Does only randomization glister?’,

Abstract Despite considerable investment there has been a marked reluctance by the Home Office to publish the evaluations of the various Pathfinder Programmes. Arguably, this reluctance stems from the 'official' view that the commissioned researchers conducted the wrong type of research, specifically in not using randomized control trials (RCTs). The utility of RCTs is considered here with particular reference to the evaluation of the Offending Behaviour Pathfinder Programmes. It is argued that the Home Office 'Reconviction Scale', favouring RCTs, is seriously flawed and is used to present a misleading view of the extant research. An overview of the wider literature shows that RCTs are not uniformly agreed to be the single design of choice in evaluating complex interventions such as offending behaviour programmes. The trend in disciplines such as the clinical sciences, with a history steeped in RCTs, is to utilize a range of research designs, both quantitative and qualitative, to evaluate complex interventions

The Wiley International Handbook of Correctional Psychology

[Publisher's description]: With contributions from an international panel of experts in the field, The Wiley International Handbook of Correctional Psychology offers a comprehensive and up-to-date review of the most relevant topics concerning the practice of psychology in correctional systems. The contributors explore the theoretical, professional and practical issues that are pertinent to correctional psychologists and other professionals in relevant fields. The Handbook explores the foundations of correctional psychology and contains information on the history of the profession, the roles of psychology in a correctional setting and examines the implementation and evaluation of various interventions. It also covers a range of topics including psychological assessment in prisons, specific treatments and modalities as well as community interventions. This important handbook: Offers the most comprehensive coverage on the topic of correctional psychology Contains contributions from leading experts from New Zealand, Australia, Europe, and North America Includes information on interventions and assessments in both community and imprisonment settings Presents chapters that explore contemporary issues and recent developments in the field Written for correctional psychologists, academics and students in correctional psychology and members of allied professional disciplines, The Wiley International Handbook of Correctional Psychology provides in-depth coverage of the most important elements of the field

The use of crime scene and demographic information in the identification of non-serial sexual homicide

As with other sexual offenders, sexual homicide perpetrators can be reluctant to talk about their criminal behavior. Therefore, in homicide cases, forensic practitioners frequently rely on crime scene information to identify any sexual behavior associated with the offense. This study aims to identify objective and readily available crime scene information, alongside information about victims and perpetrators, based on 65 cases from England and Wales in the United Kingdom of men convicted of homicide who had committed a non-serial sexual homicide and 64 cases of men convicted of homicide where the available evidence indicated that it was a non-serial non-sexual homicide. Chi-square tests and logistic regression were used to analyze the data. There were few differences in terms of demographic information and criminal histories between the two perpetrator groups. There were crime scene indicators supporting the use of Ressler et al.’s definition of sexual homicide. The victims of sexual homicide were generally found in their home with the lower half of the body exposed and with evidence of vaginal sex. Furthermore, extreme injuries and strangulation were more frequent in sexual homicides. Use of weapon was associated with a non-sexual homicide. Victims of sexual homicide were as likely to know the perpetrator as not. Potential benefits of the characteristics reported to investigators and forensic practitioners tasked with identifying sexual homicides are discussed and areas for further research suggested

Structural, item, and test generalizability of the psychopathology checklist - revised to offenders with intellectual disabilities

The Psychopathy Checklist–Revised (PCL-R) is the most widely used measure of psychopathy in forensic clinical practice, but the generalizability of the measure to offenders with intellectual disabilities (ID) has not been clearly established. This study examined the structural equivalence and scalar equivalence of the PCL-R in a sample of 185 male offenders with ID in forensic mental health settings, as compared with a sample of 1,212 male prisoners without ID. Three models of the PCL-R’s factor structure were evaluated with confirmatory factor analysis. The 3-factor hierarchical model of psychopathy was found to be a good fit to the ID PCL-R data, whereas neither the 4-factor model nor the traditional 2-factor model fitted. There were no cross-group differences in the factor structure, providing evidence of structural equivalence. However, item response theory analyses indicated metric differences in the ratings of psychopathy symptoms between the ID group and the comparison prisoner group. This finding has potential implications for the interpretation of PCL-R scores obtained with people with ID in forensic psychiatric settings

Multiple murder: A review.

The three major forms of multiple murder are mass murder, which involves multiple murders in the same general area over a short period by a lone assassin; spree murder, which involves multiple murders over a period of hours or days in different locations by an impulsive killer; and serial murder, which involves stranger-to-stranger murders of more than two people in different locations with a significant time lapse between the murders. The serial killer should be described in terms of geographical mobility (stable or unstable) and then assigned to one of four types according to predominate motive. The motives may be "visionary" (hallucinations or delusional beliefs), "Missionary" (rid society of a particular group of people), "hedonistic" (gain psychological or physical security), and "power and control" (life and death control over the victims). Statistics show that there were 52 incidents of multiple murders (three or more victims attributed to a killer or group of killers) recorded between 1982 and 1991. These offenses involved 58 perpetrators and 196 victims, some of whom were killed before 1982. The profile of a multiple murderer is a male less than 35 years old who has not achieved proper socialization. He is likely to have a well rehearsed set of violent, sadistic fantasies that are used to escape the aversive realities of daily life. The potential multiple murderer has a self-maintaining set of beliefs that legitimize and normalize the use of violence and sadism. Suggestions for future research are offere

Offending behaviour programmes : development, application, and controversies/ Edit.: Clive R. Hollin

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